365 Ways #322–Resistance band training

#322--Resistance bands are portable, light weight, and TSA approved (until someone hijacks a plane with rubber bands, that is). So they're an excellent addition to your suitcase when traveling to keep you in your exercise routine. However, I suggest using them only if you don't have access to a weight training facility. Even then, I'd be judicious in your use of resistance bands, employing them strictly for pulling exercises which are often difficult to replicate outside of the gym environment. Pushing, leg, and core specific training can be performed with body's own weight. But overuse of resistance band training actually trains the muscles to activate 180 degrees opposite of how they normally function.

See, as a person reaches end range of motion with any given movement, the resistance when using a band is at its highest. The problem is, strength is measured by the cross sectional area of actin and myosin fibers. At end range of motion then, when the actin and myosin fibers become interdigitated, the potential to exert force is at its lowest. Excessive training with resistance bands teaches the muscles to fire at the wrong time and in the wrong sequence. That's a recipe for injury. In fact, when major universities with competitive swim programs eliminated the use of resistance bands in the dry land training of their swimmers, incidence of shoulder pain/impingement syndromes decreased by as much as 90%. Proof enough that resistance is futile.